In 1942, the massive Japanese naval base and airfield at Rabaul was a fortress standing in the Allies’ path to Tokyo. It was impossible to seize Rabaul, or starve the 100,000-strong garrison out. Instead the US began an innovative, hard-fought two-year air campaign to draw its teeth, and allow them to bypass the island completely. The struggle decided more than the fate of Rabaul. If successful, the Allies would demonstrate a new form of warfare, where air power, with a judicious use of naval and land forces, would eliminate the need to occupy a ground objective in order to control it. As it turned out, the Siege of Rabaul proved to be more just than a successful demonstration of air power – it provided the roadmap for the rest of World War II in the Pacific.
| ISBN: | 9781472822444 |
| Publication date: | 25th January 2018 |
| Author: | Mark Lardas |
| Illustrator: | Mark (Cover Illustrator) Postlethwaite |
| Publisher: | Osprey Publishing an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing PLC |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Pagination: | 96 pages |
| Series: | Air Campaign |
| Genres: |
Second World War Air forces and warfare Naval forces and warfare |